Walrusses and Harbour seals – 18th September 2015

Posted on 18. September 2015 by Rolf Stange

Fri
18 Sep
2015

It would be nice to see some wildlife today. Spitsbergen is not a zoo, but it is allowed to have some hopes. And sometimes one is lucky. So were we today. The walrusses on Amsterdamøya were there just as we had been hoping for. The fox there was even better. It had been hiding and sleeping under a big old whalebone, and I had been standing next to it for a while without seeing it – and suddenly it was there and went its way.

Photo Smeerenburg – 18th September 2015

Also the harbour seals were at home just as we had been hoping for. Spitsbergen can be a friendly place.

Photo Virgohamna – 18th September 2015

Ytre Norskøya can also be friendly, but usually it isn’t. Usually, there is a strong wind blowing, low clouds, a polar bear on the beach, or something like that.

Photo Ytre Norskoya – 18th September 2015 – 1/2

Not that we would mind seeing a polar bear, but there was none today. So we went up Zeeussche Uytkyk, the old whalers’ lookout point with a free view to the north pole.